Red-stripe staples: Innovation in the least likely place

Today I want to pay tribute to a small box in my desk drawer. It is a box of Red-Stripe staples. The staple is an old invention. A small piece of cheap metal is simply bent into shape. It is almost a pure commodity. The makers of Red-Stripe staples, however, found a way to add an innovation. This is to me is like the miracle of a plant growing in the sahara. Adding value in such barren soil is inspiring.

A Red-Stripe staple has a small groove cut into the broad part of each staple, in the middle (that is, the part of the staple that you see from the front of the stapled page). A red stripe is painted on the front. If you want to remove the staple, you bend the paper so that the staple is bent at the red stripe. The staple snaps. It is by far the easiest way to remove a staple. Fantastic, hats off.